Cruel and Unusual Punishment
by Rose Stetson
Summary: He couldn't take anymore pain. He'd watched her die a thousand times in his mind. Did it have to be a thousand times during his waking hours as well?
1. The Device

**Cruel and Unusual Punishment**

_Before "Ascension" and "Meridian"_

Major Samantha Carter stood before the large consul, her hands full of various diagnostic equipment. "Sir, this looks Ancient.' She said, barely looking up from the "keyboard" of the device.

"That's impossible!" Daniel said, whirling around from where he stood, studying the written language on the walls.

"Why?" She asked, not understanding.

"The symbols here have no connection to medieval Latin." He said, as if that explained everything.

"But the altar is similar to the Ancient consuls that we've run into before."

"Daniel…isn't it possible that the Ancients came first, but decided to leave their really cool toy here?" Jack asked, walking between the two scientists with his hands on his P-90.

"Possible, but not likely."

"Why?"

"If the Ancients had come first, unless they had been entirely annihilated, I would have, should have, seen elements of Latin in this language."

"Perhaps the Ancients were unable to communicate with those who eventually inhabited this planet." Teal'c said, observing the surroundings.

"Or maybe the Ancients came later." Sam said, leaning on the edge of the consul.

"They're Ancie…" Jack began as the altar sprang to life, the buttons moving up and down. Sam jumped back just before a beam of light came from a device on the opposite wall, catching her in its grasp. She stood, in suspended animation for a few moments as the beam consumed her.

"Carter!" Jack yelled.

The beam dropped her almost immediately and she collapsed onto the ground with a large groan. The rapidly moving buttons immediately ceased operation and the beam retreated to the device it had come from.

Jack raced up to the altar. "Carter!"

She took a deep breath; it was obviously painful. "I'll be okay, sir." She gasped.

She rolled over and attempted to stand up, but fell in her endeavor.

"Teal'c!" Jack commanded as he got her arm around his shoulder. Teal'c did the same on the opposite side and together, they helped her to stumble the thirty or forty yards from the temple to the Stargate.

"Daniel! Dial it up!"

Within a few minutes, they walked through the Gate. "We need a medic!" Daniel shouted, getting through the Gate before any of the other members of his team. "Sam's been hurt!"

Jack, Teal'c, and Sam arrived a few seconds later, Sam falling backward with another attack of pain. Now, she was without even the strength to stand with the support of Jack and Teal'c. Jack anticipated her weakness and fell to his knees, catching her as she crumpled to the ground.

"Sir, your knee…" She whispered.

"Damn my knee, Carter!"

She took a deep breath, seemingly choking on the air. "Don't you dare die, Carter!" He said, as she struggled to breathe. "That's an order!"

She almost immediately began breathing more steadily, but before he could offer a tiny prayer of thanks, she began convulsing. Janet Fraiser arrived with her team of medics and began treating Sam. However, Jack's grasp was firm on her body.

"Sir, you're going to have to let go of her." She commanded Jack.

Without thinking, he let go of her body, and the medics took her to the infirmary as Jack stood up to join Teal'c, Daniel, and General Hammond at the bottom of the ramp.

"Colonel, what happened?" General Hammond asked.

"She was caught in the beam of an alien device, sir. Shortly after it released her, she began experiencing a high level of pain and overall weakness, and then, she was unable to breathe. You saw the rest, sir." He said, clearly on auto-pilot.

"SG-1, we'll debrief when we know more of what's going on with Major Carter." Hammond said, when he noticed Jack's absent expression.

"Thank you, sir."

--

When they arrived in the infirmary, they found Sam lying on a bed with a respirator tube in her mouth and an IV in her arm. It was obvious to them all that she was resting. Dr. Janet Fraiser scurried around, trying to see to her friend's comfort.

"Doc! How is she?" Jack asked, coming up behind her.

Janet stopped and turned to find the three men looking at her for information. "Not good, Colonel."

"What is it?" Daniel asked.

"To be honest, I don't know. It's as if all of her internal organs are shutting down, but while that's killing her, it wouldn't cause the amount of pain that she's been experiencing." Janet sighed. "At this rate, I'm not even sure she'll make it through the night."

Jack's heart sank. "She's in pain?"

She nodded. "I'm doing everything I can with painkillers and other medications, but…it doesn't seem to be helping much."

"At least she's resting."

She nodded, wearily. "It's going to be a long night."

"We should probably take turns. If something happens, we're on the base and can be here at a moment's notice." Daniel said, logically.

Janet nodded in agreement.

"Go ahead." Jack said, taking a seat next to Sam. "I'll take first watch."

Daniel and Janet shared a look, and they both shrugged.

"I will remain with O'Neill as I do not require sleep."

Janet gently placed one hand on his arm, wordlessly indicating for him to leave and allow Jack to sit alone with Sam. As he did so, he permitted the memories to wash over him.

"_I'm an Air Force officer just like you are, Colonel. And just because my reproductive organs are on the inside instead of the outside, doesn't mean I can't handle whatever you can handle."_

"_Oh, this has nothing to do with you being a woman. I like women. I just have a little problem with scientists."_

"_I logged over a hundred hours in enemy air space during the Gulf. Is that tough enough for ya? Or are we gonna have to arm wrestle?"_

He reached for her hand. It laid weakly against the skin of his own hand, not responding to the human contact. What he wouldn't give to arm wrestle with her now. At least then, he wouldn't be thinking that she was going to die.

He laughed half-heartedly to himself inwardly at the irony of his situation- the cliché was that a person who was about to die would have their life pass before them. However, it was he who was remembering events from her life. Her utter astonishment at the visibility of the fluctuations of the event horizon. Her completely wide-eyed curiosity about all of the technologies that she studied. Her poised, yet commanding, presence. All of the things that Dr. Fraiser had suggested would only live on in his memory.

A little over a year ago, he had finally admitted aloud his feelings for her. It had been a lot longer since she had been just another one of the guys. Just another team member. Sure, he had familial relationships with both Daniel and Teal'c, but this was different. And not exactly different in a good way.

"_I'd rather die myself than lose Carter."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because I care about her…a lot more than I'm supposed to."_

She stirred in pain. It wasn't long before her eyes opened in panic as she registered the respirator tube going down her throat. She almost started choking as she tried to breathe in through her mouth.

"Carter! It's okay!" Jack said, raising off of his chair enough to put his hand on her shoulder to help her calm down.

He could see the trust in her eyes as she saw his face. As she quieted and relaxed, her breathing became easier, allowing herself to learn quickly how to adapt to the ventilator.

"I didn't think you'd wake up."

She grimaced as a wave of pain flooded over her.

"You probably wish you hadn't." He said, troubled by her expression.

She closed her eyes in agreement. He mindlessly began gliding his thumb over the top of her hand in a tender caress. She looked confused at her hand, now encompassed in his own, and then at him. He shrugged in response.

"Do you remember when we were stranded in Antarctica?" He asked, pensively as he watched his thumb circulate on the top of her hand.

She moved her head so slightly that he wasn't sure that she had nodded, but ultimately, he decided that if he remembered anything from Antarctica, that she would remember more. After all, he had been the one closest to death in that instance.

"I shouldn't have survived the trip home. But you wouldn't let me die."

"Couldn't." She managed, hoarsely.

"Well, I'm not sure I ever really thanked you for that."

"_It's been an honor…"_

"_Sir, I want you to hold that thought…"_

She raised her arm and mimed writing. She closed her eyes against the excruciating pain as her arm received a reverberating shock wave shoot through it.

"Carter, you don't have to…"

She looked at him with the look of determination that he would never forget. He stood and went to retrieve a small pad of paper and a pen.

She struggled as she wrote: You stayed.

"_It's no use, sir! Just go!"_

"_NO!"_

"What else could I have done? Lose you like I lost Sara and Charlie?"

A few tears managed to find their way down her cheeks as she squeezed his hand to let him know how much she had appreciated his sentiment. They spent the next few moments, quietly sitting and observing one another before Sam felt what little strength she had left leave. Her eyelids began sliding shut as if she was falling asleep, but she knew that she would probably never wake up from this sleep. She willed herself to make one last attempt at speaking. "I 'ov oo." She managed.

Jack could sense what she did. He stood and kissed her forehead. "Me too."

As the heart monitor began to signal that it had lost her pulse, Jack still stood there, holding her hand, and tenderly caressing her face. No tears came, but his heart was as broken as it had been when he had lost Charlie and then, Sara. However, there was a slight difference. He would never get over Sam as he had managed to do with Sara. His relationship with Sam had been completely different, as though they both had decided that they would wait for the impossible to occur. So, in a way, this journey would be no different. Death was just another layer to the impossibility of their relationship.

Within seconds, there were nurses pushing him out of the way as Dr. Fraiser arrived on scene. They began attempts at reviving her, but ultimately they were unsuccessful. A few minutes later, Janet walked over to where Jack stood. "Colonel…"

"I know."

She looked as though she was about ready to cry. "I'm sorry."

He nodded as Daniel and Teal'c arrived. "What…?" Daniel began.

"She's gone, Daniel." Jack said before the archaeologist could say anything else.

"Jack…" Daniel began as Jack walked out of the room.

"Daniel." Janet warned.

He turned. "You're probably right."

She nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. "I guess I have to inform the General. Her father's going to want know…"

Daniel nodded, while Teal'c merely stood there, a sorrowful variation of his stoic expression on his face. Janet brushed past them as Daniel looked at the lifeless body of his friend- the closest person to a sister he could ever claim to have.

"Do you know if she was in pain at the end?" He asked one of the nurses.

She shook her head, compassionately. "She wasn't convulsing, if that answers your question."

"Thanks." He said, a brave smile on his lips.

She nodded, acknowledging briefly his thanks.

"Well, at least she's…" He began before he choked on a sob trapped in his throat.

"She has passed on to a better existence, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c said, mournfully.

Daniel tried to regain his composure by swallowing the lump that had lodged in his throat. "I wish I could say that that made me feel any better." Daniel said, as they looked at the corpse on the bed.

"Indeed."


	2. Return of the Dead

Jack walked slowly up to the surface. It was always hard to lose someone close to you, and this was no different. He got his keys out of his pocket as he got out of the elevator.

"Have a good night, Colonel." The airman said as he left the Mountain.

Not likely, he thought. "Thank you, airman."

He walked out to the parking lot, heading numbly toward the Ford F-250 that he called his own. As he did so, he passed a blond woman walking toward the entrance to the base.

"Going somewhere, sir?"

"Home." He muttered, not looking up as he walked past her.

"Why?" She asked as she stopped, confused. "You're scheduled to be on duty for the week."

When he ignored her, still walking away from her, she turned and hurried to catch up with him. "What's on your mind?"

He turned toward her, now defensive. "Why do you…?"

He had been about to ask her why she cared when he realized her was only a foot away from Samantha Carter. She stood there, every bit as alive as she had been just that morning. He looked back at the entrance to the SGC, then back at her. I must be hallucinating, he thought.

"What's the matter, sir? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I think I might have." He whispered.

She looked around the parking lot, full of cars and almost devoid of any other human beings.

"I don't see anything."

"Of course you don't." He mumbled, turning to go to his car.

"Begging your pardon, sir, but what's your problem?" She asked, watching him leave.

He stopped and turned. She gulped, accepting the unspoken reprimand. "I'm sorry, sir. I…something's bothering you, and I'd like to try and help. Now, what happened?"

He turned and continued walking.

"Colonel, please."

He stopped without turning around. The pleading in her voice cut him to the very core of his being.

"What happened, Carter, is that I failed my team."

"No, you didn't. Whatever happened could not have been your fault."

He turned slowly to face her again. "Maybe not directly. But I am the commander of SG-1, and whatever happens to the members of that team is my responsibility."

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

He took a deep breath. "I know you're not real, so this might not really mean anything to you, but it'll make me feel better, so…I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For everything. For taking you for granted. For believing that we had forever." He paused as he attempted to swallow the emotion that had crept into his voice. "For not being there for you the way I wanted to be."

He turned back and walked to his truck. The reality of the day's events washed over him as he just sat in the truck, pain coursing over him without mercy. He let tears fall quietly down his cheeks. He had announced one day, early in his childhood that he would never cry. He had only broken that promise to himself a few times- when his mother died and then when Charlie died. That was not to say that he didn't cherish the other relationships he had had in his life, but physical manifestations of one's emotions made one weak. They showed your enemy where they could hurt you and make you feel it the most.

His mother, Charlie and Sam had been the three people in his life that he had ever trusted with all of his heart; they were the only people he had allowed to penetrate the thick walls of his heart. Not even Sara had been able to reach the innermost part of his heart. At least, not after Charlie. But he had loved her, and he still loved her. But there were parts of his heart that were so black that he didn't want to acknowledge them, and somehow Sara had been unable to see them. But his mother, Charlie and Sam had somehow been able to see them and still look past them enough to see who he really was. His mother had been able to watch the news and draw lines between his assignment dates and the deeds that had taken place during that time; the strength and fullness of her love had never wavered. Charlie had forgiven him for the absent father that he'd been. And Sam knew full well what he was capable of, even if his file was filled with nothing but black lines made by marker to hide the operations he had participated in.

Three people he had fully opened up to. Three people who were dead. It almost made him wonder if caring about people wasn't overrated. It only left you out in the open, vulnerably waiting for an attack.

He drove silently home. Tonight had been a time to remember…and tonight would be a time to forget.


	3. Deja Vu

Daniel walked past Sam's lab on his way to his own. He stopped for a moment, half-expecting to see her blond head bent over some new project, but he was sorely disappointed when the lab remained empty. 

"Daniel!" She called, walking toward him.

"Yeah?"

"What's wrong with Colonel O'Neill?"

He looked up into Sam's blue eyes. "Sam?"

She gaped. "That's exactly how he looked at me. What's wrong with you guys?"

"Sam…you…I mean, this is crazy!"

"What's crazy?"

Teal'c voice came from around the corner. "Daniel Jackson, I believe that I heard…" Teal'c stopped as he rounded the corner and saw Sam. "Major Carter." He said, almost mournfully.

"What the hell is going on here?"

"We witnessed your demise at the hands of a device on P4C 875." Teal'c said, taking a step forward.

"I'm dead?" She asked, surprised. "But my access card still works!"

"Well, you only died about an hour ago." Daniel pointed out.

"But I don't feel dead!" She protested.

"Dr. Jackson! Teal'c!" General Hammond said, walking down the hall. "Good. I managed to catch you both."

"General Hammond." Sam said, hoping beyond hope that he didn't think she was dead too.

"Major," he greeted. Suddenly, his eyes widened in recognition. "Major Carter!"

"Not you too." She said with a sigh.

"Dr. Jackson, Teal'c, what the hell is going on here?"

"That's what I just asked." She said, uncomfortably.

"I have no idea." Daniel said, shrugging.

"Who are you?" Hammond asked, stepping toward the major, his eyes full of earnest question.

"I am Major Doctor Samantha Elizabeth Carter of the United States Air Force." She said, slowly. "And I am NOT dead."

--

She sat on the table in the infirmary waiting for Dr. Fraiser.

"General…I was just finishing up some…" She looked at Sam. "Sam."

"Janet! Thank goodness…these guys are saying that I'm dead…I'm not dead, am I?"

"I…I just started on your paperwork!"

"What the hell made you think that I was dead?!"

"Possibly the fact that you flatlined in my infirmary…and that you didn't respond to our attempts at resuscitation…" Janet said, trying to steady herself.

Sam looked at the them as a sharp pain flashed over her entire body. She was bent over in absolute pain as she looked up. "If I was dead, I wouldn't be in pain, now would I?"

Janet rushed to her side. "Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere." She groaned.

Suddenly, one of the young doctors, working in the morgue ran into the room. "Dr. Fraiser! I've been looking everywhere!"

"Not right now, Dr. Stevenson."

"But…Major Carter's body disappeared in a bright light!"

Janet turned sharply to look at the young man. "What?"

Sam groaned as she collapsed against the concrete.

"Nurse! Get Major Carter to Isolation 1!"

General Hammond turned to Daniel. "Get Colonel O'Neill…we need to figure out what the hell is going on!"


	4. Something Weird

Daniel reached his phone, dialing Jack's home number. "O'Neill." 

"Jack, it's me, Daniel."

"Daniel, why're you calling? I've been gone from the base for all of about a half hour. They DON'T need me!"

"Yes, Jack, we do. Something weird's going on, and we need you to help us get to the bottom of it."

"Something weird is ALWAYS happening; that's part of the job description."

"Sam's back."

"Now, that's impossible." The Colonel responded after a moment of absorption took place.

"No, Jack, it's not. The morgue attendant was saying something about her body disappearing in a flash of light…I think she might have ascended."

"Ascended?"

"Like Oma Desala."

"Right." Jack said, with a sigh. "Daniel, this has to be a joke, and I have news for you. It's not funny."

"Jack!" He exclaimed, exasperated. "I would NOT joke about something like this!"

There was a click as the line went dead.

"Great." He muttered to himself as Teal'c entered his office.

"What has occurred, Daniel Jackson?"

"Jack just hung up on me. He thinks I'm joking."

"That would indeed be a cruel attempt at amusement."

"Teal'c, I'm not joking!"

"Indeed. But how will we assure O'Neill that this is so?"

"I don't want him here." Sam said, vehemently, as she leaned against the doorway, with Janet at her side.

"But Sam…"

"I'm mad as hell that I've died already, and from what I understand, I'm going to die again. I'm not going to let him witness that again."

General Hammond entered the room. "Major, we still have no idea what happened on that planet…"

"I know, sir. But, if this isn't the end, maybe we could let Colonel O'Neill grieve." She said, her hands pressing against the sides of her abdomen as sweat dripped down her flushed face. "Please."

Hammond nodded. "Notify Colonel O'Neill in twenty-four hours unless the status changes."

Daniel nodded.

"In the meantime, Sam, let's get you back to the isolation room."

"Nothing helps, Janet." She gulped.

"Sam…"

Sam collapsed as her body seized up.

"We have a code blue medical emergency in Dr. Jackson's lab. I need a medical team here stat!"

Sam's eyes were rolling back into her sockets as she foamed at her mouth. Daniel and Teal'c watched Janet and her team work diligently to save her life once again.

Ten minutes later, Janet's eyes returned to those of her friends, mixed with anguish, sadness, and confusion. "She's dead."

"Call Colonel O'Neill." Hammond said, after the unspoken moment of silence passed.

"Yes, sir."


	5. Asgard? Or something else?

"What the hell do you want now, Daniel?" The drunk Jack O'Neill slurred as he answered the phone. 

"Jack, we really do need you. General Hammond insisted that I call you."

"Damn Hammond!"

"Jack..."

"I don't care what the hell happens to the universe, Danny. And you can quote me on that."

"I'm coming to pick you up, ready or not. We have some things you're going to have to help us with because Sam just died...again."

"Daniel, you must be more drunk than I am."

"Jack, I'm not drunk. Now, I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

"Doesn't mean I have to open the door."

"Teal'c's coming with me."

"Cheater."

"My middle name."

"No, it isn't...your middle name is...Daniel, what IS your middle name?"

"I'm not telling you Jack, that's why you didn't know to begin with. Now, I'm leaving the base now. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Daniel, I don't need to be picked up!"

The line went dead in his hand. Jack shook his head. Sometimes, he wanted to kill that stubborn archaeologist.

--

Forty-five minutes later, a semi-sober Jack was accompanied by Daniel and Teal'c to Cheyenne Mountain. They walked straight into the briefing room where they were met by Samantha Carter, General Hammond, Janet Fraiser, and the director of the SGC morgue.

"What the hell is going on here?" Jack cried at the sight of Samantha Carter, seemingly resurrected. "Are you people sick or something? She's dead, for cryin' out loud, and you think you can just resurrect her because you FEEL like it?"

All of the professionals in the room looked at one another, refusing to acknowledge Jack's insubordination.

"Sir? It's me...Carter..."

"Walks and talks too, huh? Sweet little toy you got there, Hammond."

Sam looked at Jack, hurt and confusion on her face. "Begging your pardon, sir, but isn't it about time you started to return to decorum?"

"Decorum? Decorum? Decorum got us into this mess, Carter!" He said, clearly enunciating her surname. "So, begging YOUR pardon, I don't give a damn about decorum anymore."

Angry and frustrated at his irrational state, Sam walked over and slapped him before standing back, aghast at what she had just done. She had just hit her commanding officer.

"I'm sorry, sir." She stammered as he rubbed his cheek.

"You're real?" He asked, disbelieving.

"No, I'm a barbie doll that walks and talks." She said, sarcastically to hide her surprise at his shock.

Jack shook his head. "That's not what I meant. You're alive?" Jack asked, seriously as he walked toward her, hope in his gaze.

"Yes, I'm alive." Sam said, agitatedly. "What the hell is going on? Why does everyone think I'm dead?"

"Those are some of the questions we'd like to have answered, Major." General Hammond said, motioning to the briefing room table.

She looked from Jack to the General and nodded as she and Jack took seats next to one another and Daniel, the others taking the three seats across from them.

"Dr. Fraiser?"

"At 0143, Major Carter died. Colonel O'Neill left the Mountain at approximately 0150 according to the airmen at the surface."

"I saw her then." Jack interrupted.

"Why didn't you tell us, Colonel?"

"Because I thought I was crazy." He admitted. "I thought I was tired, and just wanted to see her again."

"I don't remember any of this." Sam interjected.

"You didn't last time, either." Daniel assured.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"No." Jack said, shooting a look at the archaeologist, telling him to knock it off.

"Okay, how many times has this happened?" She asked, trying to understand why all of the people she loved and trusted, with the exception of Jack, had a pretty good idea of what was going on, while she had no idea.

"This is the second time you've come back from the dead." Daniel informed. "And both times you died, your body has disappeared from the morgue in a glowing light, is that right, Dr. Stevenson?"

The doctor nodded. "It was almost engulfed in a bright white light, ascending through the ceiling."

"What?" Sam asked, eyebrows furrowed. "Asgard beaming?"

"No, I don't think so...because only a few moments later, you arrived without your memories."

"So, someone pushed the wrong buttons on the controls." Jack offered.

"I don't think so, Jack." Daniel continued at Jack's puzzled look. "If that were the case, don't you think someone would have fixed it by now? And...can the Asgard really bring someone back from the dead?"

"They brought Hammond back from the dead when we went to that other Carter's reality."

Sam winced at the mention of her alternate self, the one who had loved and lost her own Jack O'Neill. Quickly, she regained her composure. "Why would they do that to me? They're our..." She wrapped her arms around her middle, groaning in pain.

"Sam?" Janet asked, hurrying over.

"I'm fine." She said, straining to sit upright again. "They're our allies. Why would they kill and revive me over and over again?"

"Sam, I think you're dying again." Daniel said, his head snapping up at the realization.

"What? No...just...agh!" She screamed. Tears streaked down her face. "Stop it! STOP IT!"

"Sam, you have to tell me what hurts...and how it hurts." Janet said, about ready to cry.

"It's like someone's just stabbed...twist." She said, panting from the pain. "Make it stop!"

"General?" Janet asked, turning. "I need to get her..."

"Go."

"Thank you, sir."

Daniel and Janet helped her down to the infirmary while Jack watched her leave, horrified.

"O'Neill, how do you fare?"

"This sucks." He said, retaining his stony disposition as he followed the group.

Teal'c merely nodded in understanding as he followed his friends.


	6. You'll Figure It Out

Janet stood outside the isolation room where she greeted Teal'c, General Hammond and Jack. "Sir, I'm glad you're here." 

"What's going on?"

"As far as I can tell, every time she comes back, she's in a variation of the state that she was in originally. It's just different enough that I have to start from scratch every time, yet still the same in the regard that she's in excruciating pain. I was about to start her on a morphine drip, sir."

"Do it."

"Yes, sir."

As they watched the doctor get back to work, Jack turned to the General. "Sir, I'm...I'm sorry about my earlier behavior. It was out of line, and very disrespectful toward you. And for that, I am deeply sorry."

The General nodded. "I understand, son."

Jack could see from the General's almost sorrowful look that he saw much more than a commanding officer watching his second-in-command die a slow and painful death, but a man losing the love of his life. "Thank you, sir." He said, choking on unshed tears.

Sam's scream ended the premature moment of silence and understanding passing between the two soldiers, and Jack's heart constricted. He closed his eyes as he clenched his teeth and the fists at his side. There was nothing he could do to help her. Again.

"JACK!" She screamed, looking in agony toward him.

As a matter of habit, he turned to the General beside him who nodded before turning to Teal'c. "Keep me posted, Teal'c."

"As you wish, General Hammond." He said, bowing as Jack walked into the isolation room.

"What's the problem, Doc?" Jack asked, as he passed the petite woman.

"I don't know...I started the morphine drip, but it seems to be worsening her pain."

"IT BURNS!" Sam screamed, pulling on the IV tube, trying to pull it out of her. "GET IT OUT OF ME!"

Janet and Jack ran over, Jack reaching for Sam's hand as Janet tried to figure out what was going on. Janet's eyes widened. "Get the IV out of her!" She ordered. "The morphine is heating up!"

There was a pause as the information coursed over the individuals involved. "NOW!" Janet commanded.

The nurses pulled took the IV out of her arm, and Sam coughed as she returned to normal. However, as she did so, blood spewed from her lips.

Janet looked at the nurses around her, worriedly. "This is different than last time."

"Can't you do something for her?" Jack begged.

"Sir, I'm doing everything I can."

Sam turned bloodshot eyes toward him, sorrowfully. "I'm sorry, Jack." She whispered, tears running down her cheeks.

"What? Sam, stay with me..."

"I'm so sorry." She whispered again before closing her eyes as the monitor showed her flatlining heart rate.

"No, Sam! Wake up!" Jack said, placing both hands on her face and forcing her closed eyes to look at his own.

There was no answer as the medical team prepared to resuscitate her. Before they could do so, however, Samantha Carter's body was engulfed in a white light and ascended out of their sight.

Jack put his hand on his eyes, hiding the tears that had started to fall once again before recomposing himself, and setting his hands back at his sides. "Daniel, get started on translating the walls of that place. We need to know what's going on here..."

"Jack..."

"Daniel."

"I'm on it." Daniel said, sensing that it was more important to figure out what was happening than to try to get his friend to talk...especially if it was just going to happen all over again.

--

Jack walked up to General Hammond's office. "Sir, Major Carter has passed away...again."

"General." Sam addressed running up the steps from the control room to the briefing room. "We're receiving a message from the..." She stopped when she saw Jack in General Hammond's office. "I'm sorry, sir...is this a bad time?"

Jack's eyes were the only part of him that indicated the pain that he felt inside when he saw her breathing frame. "No, Carter, it's fine."

"What did you need?" General Hammond asked quickly, so as to save his second-in-command from the awkwardness of the experience.

"The Tok'ra sent a message in response to the one you sent out only a few minutes ago."

"What'd they say, Major?"

"My dad's unavailable, but they'll send another Tok'ra by with a healing device."

Jack bit the insides of his cheeks as he saw the confusion in her eyes and realized that she didn't know why there was a need for a Tok'ra operative and goa'uld healing device on the base at the time.

"Did you have a question, Carter?" He asked, finally regaining his composure again.

"Well, sir, we have a healing device. And I can operate it. Why did we need to call the Tok'ra?"

"Major, ever since your return from P4C 875, you have been suffering violent deaths only for your body to disappear and be replaced by your living form." General Hammond explained. "We were hoping not only that the Tok'ra could heal you, but that they could help to shed some light on what might be happening."

"I'm dying a painful death only to come back and experience it all over again?" She asked, her mind reeling.

"Yes, Carter." Jack said, his facial features stony.

"Why would someone do that?"

"I have Daniel working on that right now. He's translating the ruins from P4C 875 as we speak, sir." He said, directing the last part of his comment not only to Sam but also to General Hammond.

"Thank you, Colonel."

"Well, one of the Tok'ra operatives should be here in the next few minutes."

"Thank you, Major."

She gave him a wan smile. "You're welcome, sir."

Jack and Sam exited the General's office simultaneously, and walked quietly down the corridor. "Sir?" Sam began, feeling the awkwardness of the moment.

"Yes, Carter?" He asked, still looking straight ahead.

"Sir, look at me."

He turned to face her direction, still somewhat unwilling to look her in the eyes. "Yes, Carter?" He repeated.

"No, sir, look AT me..." Sam said, sincerely.

He looked down at the ground before gazing into her eyes. "Yes, Carter?"

As their eyes locked, Sam could see so many emotions running through Jack's eyes. Thoughts, feelings, hopes, dreams...they all flew into her own mind. The experience was so powerful that she started tearing up. "Uh...how are you doing?"

"I'm fine, I guess." Jack said, chewing the inside of his right cheek. "How 'bout you?"

"Well, it's certainly a different experience to know you're going to die a painful death only to be brought back from the dead to experience it all again."

"Carter, we're trying to do everything we can." Jack assured quite emphatically.

"I know." She said, a tender smile gracing her face. "And I know you'll figure it out."

"Hey, isn't that MY line?" Jack teased, allowing himself to lighten the mood a little.

"Well, I think it works in this case."

Jack nodded as he looked at the ground and started walking down the corridor again. "Carter...why do YOU think someone would do this?"

"Me, sir?"

"Yeah..."

"I have no idea." She admitted, looking at the ground like him, unsure of what to say. Of what would be comforting and what would be distressing.

"Me either." He whispered softly. "But it's got to be some race that we've never come across...I don't think even the goa'uld would like this...at least they want to be the ones inflicting the pain..."

"Daniel will come up with something..." Sam said, quickly, trying to reassure them both.

"Of course he will." Jack reassured. "He has to." He whispered to himself.


End file.
